Cycling highlights: Winning a stage in the Tour de France in the yellow jersey is something special. Fabian Cancellara succeeded in doing this in 2007.
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Cancellara conquered yellow in the prologue
has eight stages Fabian Cancellara won the Tour de France in his career, seven of them against the clock. But his most valuable and impressive success came on July 10, 2007 in Compiègne. After his opening victory in the London prologue, he was still in the yellow jersey on the third stage. A flat stage from Waregem to Compiègne was now on the program, a clear affair for the sprinters. But Fabian Cancellara spontaneously saw his chance to strike again - this time not in the time trial.
Nobody had "Spartacus" to oppose something
Just below the one kilometer mark, the pros had to complete a small section of cobblestones. Actually too short to cause problems for pure sprinters. But the stage had been 236 kilometers long. It was characterized by a grueling catch-up race and the last breakaways were still a few seconds ahead of the peloton directly under the Teufelslappen. The sprinter teams were battered – Cancellara apparently wasn't. The man in yellow walked away from under the rouge flame, sitting down. The Swiss closed the gap to the last remaining escapees and also left them standing. Behind them, the sprinters came dangerously close again, but Erik Zabel was only second. Fabian Cancellara was allowed to roll jubilantly over the finish line in yellow. It would remain his only Tour stage win outside of time trials. This year he only gave up yellow after the seventh stage, the first mountain stage of the 2007 Tour de France.